The UK has rejected an EU offer that would make it easier for people aged between 18 and 30 to study and work abroad in the wake of Brexit.
The European Commission had said the deal would be a limited arrangement, not a restoration of free movement.
But No 10 has rejected the offer, stating “free movement within the EU was ended”.
The UK already runs schemes with some non-EU countries to allow people to come to the UK for up to two years.
It says it is open to extending that to individual EU member countries, rather than throughout the EU.
“We are not introducing an EU-wide youth mobility scheme – free movement within the EU was ended and there are no plans to introduce it,” a government spokesperson said on Friday evening.
Downing Street said it prefers country-by-country deals to an agreement that would apply across all 27 member states.
And Labour has said it has “no plans for a youth mobility scheme” if it wins the general election later this year.
A party spokesperson said it had already pledged “no return to the single market, customs union or free movement” if it takes office.
It added it wanted to improve the UK’s relationship with the EU by agreeing new arrangements for recognising work qualifications, trading food and agricultural products, and touring performers.
